Chapter 43

On the day of the fourth match recording, when Qin Qingzhuo arrived at the studio, the staff were busy adjusting various equipment.

The audience hadn’t entered yet, and at the moment, musicians who were waiting for the rehearsal were sitting in the audience seats. Qin Qingzhuo scanned the area but didn’t see the three members of the Asperatus Band. Instead, he noticed the Urban Collapse Band, with whom there was a conflict the other day.

When other musicians saw Qin Qingzhuo, they waved and greeted him, but the three members of the Urban Collapse Band avoided eye contact, seemingly intentionally ignoring him.

Qin Qingzhuo approached a musician from his own team whom he was familiar with and asked, “Has the Asperatus Band arrived yet?”

The person shook their head. “Haven’t seen them.”

“Probably chickened out and withdrew from the competition,” quipped the bassist from the Urban Collapse Band sitting in the back row, followed by laughter from the other two.

A slight discomfort flashed through Qin Qingzhuo’s mind, and he glanced in the direction of the three individuals.

He had only glanced briefly before and hadn’t noticed, but now he saw that the three of them seemed to have thick foundation makeup on their faces, presumably to cover the injuries they received from Jiang Ji and Zhong Yang that day.

The three members of the Urban Collapse Band were average-looking at best. Previously, they could at least rely on their appearance to make an impression, but now, with their injuries, their already limited attractiveness was further diminished. Even with the heavy foundation to cover up, it still couldn’t change much and made them look somewhat odd.

The stage’s lighting technician was adjusting the lights when suddenly a cold white light shone towards their direction, making the foundation makeup on their faces appear as if it were a thick layer of putty on a wall.

Unable to bear looking closely, Qin Qingzhuo turned away, recalling the famous quote by Qian Zhongshu – “For ugly people, close scrutiny is a kind of cruelty,” and couldn’t help but find it amusing, thinking that his obsession with appearance was truly incurable.

Chen Jia, who had been watching the rehearsal from the side of the stage, hurriedly approached Qin Qingzhuo. “Brother Qingzhuo, Asperatus Band hasn’t arrived yet. Did Jiang Ji say anything to you?”

“No,” Qin Qingzhuo turned his head, looking at the phone in Chen Jia’s hand, which showed repeated calls to Jiang Ji going unanswered. “Can’t reach Jiang Ji?”

“Mmh, he’s not answering the phone. What’s going on…” Chen Jia frowned and muttered, “Director Shi just heard that Asperatus hasn’t arrived yet and was getting angry.”

Qin Qingzhuo furrowed his brows slightly—could Jiang Ji be in trouble again? Is it related to that Uncle Sui?

After a few seconds of contemplation, he took out his phone, told Chen Jia, “I’ll try,” and then dialed Jiang Ji’s number.

The waiting tone echoed in the receiver for quite a while with no one answering. Just when Qin Qingzhuo wasn’t expecting much, the call suddenly connected, and Jiang Ji said, “Hello?” on the other end.

Chen Jia looked surprised and asked in a low voice, “Connected?”

Qin Qingzhuo nodded and made a gesture to Chen Jia, indicating that he would step aside to make the call.

Walking towards the aisle, intentionally avoiding Chen Jia and other musicians, he asked, “Jiang Ji, are you okay over there?”

“Yeah,” Jiang Ji’s voice showed no emotional fluctuations, “Jiang Bei got lost, but we just found her.”

“Is Jiang Bei okay?”

“Her health is not great. I’m taking her to the hospital.”

“Then go quickly.” After a pause, Qin Qingzhuo added, “What about today’s competition?”

“I probably won’t make it to the rehearsal, but the competition is not a problem,” Jiang Ji said. “I’ll be there, don’t worry.”

Qin Qingzhuo responded with another “Yeah.”

Jiang Ji’s tone was steady when saying this, and when he mentioned “don’t worry,” Qin Qingzhuo seemed to genuinely feel relieved.

After hanging up the phone, he walked back to Chen Jia. “There’s something going on with them over there. They’ll be late, won’t make it for the rehearsal, but the competition won’t be affected.”

“That’s good. I’ll go tell Director Shi.” Chen Jia breathed a sigh of relief, but then looked a bit distressed. “But if they don’t come for the rehearsal, Director Shi will definitely be upset…”

Seeing her somewhat troubled look, Qin Qingzhuo said, “Don’t you still have to watch the rehearsal? I’ll go talk to Director Shi.”

“Really?” Chen Jia instantly felt as if she had found a savior. “Thank you so much, Brother Qingzhuo. Honestly, I’m a bit scared. Director Shi is the scariest one in the hour before recording…”

Qin Qingzhuo chuckled. “Where is Director Shi?”

“He should be in the control room. By the way,” Chen Jia handed over a few pages of paper, “here is the script and flow for your performance.”

Qin Qingzhuo nodded, taking the papers, and while flipping through them, he walked towards the control room.

On the script, Asperatus Band’s song selection was still the one Jiang Ji had reported earlier, indicating that he still decided not to sing “Endless Night.” Although Qin Qingzhuo felt a bit regretful, he respected Jiang Ji’s choice after all. Jiang Ji had his reasons.

His gaze lingered on tonight’s highlight battle – “Urban Collapse vs. Asperatus.” A thought flashed through Qin Qingzhuo’s mind. Urban Collapse… Is it really the predetermined champion?

Now that the competition was more than halfway through, some bands on the initial “safe passage” list provided by Shi Yao had already become “abandoned,” and there were rumors that some bands outside the list had signed contracts with the program team for later performances.

Indeed, from the beginning, the Urban Collapse Band received a lot of attention from Shi Yao, and there were always rumors internally. However, whether it was true or not, there had been no definite news… Should he casually ask Shi Yao when he sees him later?

A few meters away from the control room, the sound of Shi Yao scolding the staff interrupted Qin Qingzhuo’s thoughts.

He snapped out of it, thinking no wonder Chen Jia was so nervous just now; Shi Yao was indeed quite scary when he got angry.

But before the recording starts, various details need to be confirmed. As the overall director of the program team, Shi Yao bears the heaviest pressure and is inevitably anxious. This state of mind is understandable.

The control room’s door was open, Qin Qingzhuo walked to the doorway, and tapping his fingers on the door twice, he said, “Director Shi.”

Shi Yao turned his head, saw Qin Qingzhuo, and his expression softened slightly. “Qingzhuo, do you need something?”

“It’s about Asperatus,” Qin Qingzhuo entered the room and repeated what he had just told Chen Jia to Shi Yao.

Shi Yao’s face indeed showed signs of anger upon hearing this, but he restrained himself from venting his anger on Qin Qingzhuo. Instead, he furrowed his brows and said, “They’re not coming for rehearsal again? This is getting ridiculous. With less than half an hour left before the official recording, are you sure they’ll make it?”

“Yeah,” Qin Qingzhuo nodded. “They’ve prepared seriously for this match. Skipping the rehearsal shouldn’t have a significant impact.”

“You, Qingzhuo, are just too lenient. I know you have a good relationship with them, but you can’t keep indulging them like this,” Shi Yao shook his head. Seeing Qin Qingzhuo’s response, he didn’t say anything further. “Alright, then you can tell them for me too. Perform well today. If you can liven up the stage, I’ll let this slide.”

“It seems like Director Shi also has high expectations for Asperatus,” Qin Qingzhuo smiled and continued, “With Urban Collapse bringing their own fanbase and Asperatus being a hot topic, this match can be considered the first peak showdown of this show. Whether the show can break through the circle, this match is indeed crucial. But honestly, if you don’t want these two bands to clash so early, there should still be a way to handle it, right?”

Seeing his intentions being understood, Shi Yao politely responded with a smile, “It’s also about respecting their wishes.”

“But in that case, aren’t you afraid of any variables?” Qin Qingzhuo hinted.

“Variables?” Shi Yao gave him a meaningful look. “What variables?”

“Like… what if Asperatus wins this match?”

Shi Yao didn’t immediately respond to the question, seemingly lost in thought. After a few seconds, he chuckled, “No matter who wins in the end, as long as the show is successful, it’s a win-win outcome. As a director, I don’t care who wins or loses.” After saying that, he checked his watch. “It’s about time, Qingzhuo. Shouldn’t you go over there now? Let’s go together. I also want to take another look at the venue.”

“Yeah,” Qin Qingzhuo smiled back and didn’t say anything further.

Inside the studio, the audience had already entered, and the bands had finished their rehearsal and returned to the waiting room.

The four mentors took their seats at the mentor desk. The lights above the audience dimmed suddenly, and a row of spotlights lit up on the stage.

The host on stage finished the opening remarks and began to explain the rules – this match was an inter-group PK, and the bands could freely choose another mentor’s band as their opponent for the PK. To ensure fairness, the four mentors would only provide feedback and not participate in the voting; the voting results were entirely in the hands of the audience.

Sitting at the mentor desk, Qin Qingzhuo recalled his conversation with Shi Yao just now. From Shi Yao’s attitude, it seemed that Urban Collapse was indeed his favored champion.

However, it was also apparent that Shi Yao valued popularity a lot. Whatever he did, his ultimate goal was to align with popularity. If there were bands that could bring in a larger audience, changing the original plan was not impossible. In other words, if Urban Collapse’s performance in this round was not satisfactory, then Asperatus might have a chance to win.

But Urban Collapse had performed steadily in the previous rounds, especially this time, they were determined to eliminate Asperatus. If they put on a better performance than before, then there was a high chance that Asperatus would be eliminated.

Qin Qingzhuo was well aware that if a band got eliminated, it meant not only their exit from the recording of the show but also the end of his interaction with that band.

Afterward, this band wouldn’t bother him too much, and he would gradually forget about them.

Just like pedestrians passing each other on the street, after a brief encounter, they might never meet again in their lifetime.

It was a common occurrence, and Qin Qingzhuo didn’t usually have much emotional fluctuation when other bands were eliminated. But thinking about the possible outcome of Asperatus in this round, he surprisingly felt sad… Qin Qingzhuo let out a sigh and tried to focus his attention on the bands performing on stage.

In the backstage of the studio, Chen Jia’s brows furrowed deeply—

Jiang Ji said he would come for the competition, but when would he finally arrive? With one group of bands after another finishing their PK rounds, some advancing, some being eliminated, and now it was about to be the final showdown between Urban Collapse and Asperatus, did they have to keep hundreds of spectators waiting like this? If it came to this, Shi Yao would be furious…

As the second band of the fifth group reached the chorus, a “ding” sound came from the elevator nearby, followed by footsteps. Chen Jia hurriedly walked over.

Jiang Ji was carrying his guitar and leading the way, followed by the equally bustling Peng Keshi and Zhong Yang.

“Sorry, Sister Jia,” Zhong Yang greeted with a smile before Chen Jia could get angry, “We had a real emergency this time, are we late?”

Chen Jia lowered her voice and scolded, “You guys are always cutting it close, aren’t you!”

With that, she quickly led them to the backstage waiting area. “Hurry up, Urban Collapse is already waiting there.”

The three followed Chen Jia to the backstage waiting area, where Urban Collapse looked at them unfriendly. The bassist spoke with malice, “Oh, didn’t chicken out and quit?”

Zhong Yang, who hadn’t caught his breath yet, raised his eyes and coincidentally, a green light from the stage shot through a gap, illuminating the thick foundation on the faces of the three opposite them, making them shine. He was taken aback and almost jumped back, “Damn!”

Regaining his composure, he patted his chest and assessed the three, “Wow, you scared me. Are you guys playing cosplay?”

Jiang Ji took off the guitar from his back and glanced at the opposite side. “Heibai Wuchang, Horse-Face and Ox-Head, quite similar.”

*黑白无常 – literally “Black and White Impermanence”, are two Deities(one dressed in white and the other in black) in Chinese folk religion in charge of escorting the spirits of the dead to the underworld.
*Ox-Head and Horse-Face – types of guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology. As indicated by their names, both have the bodies of men, but Ox-Head has the head of an ox while Horse-Face has the face of a horse.

Zhong Yang burst into laughter. “What kind of underworld makeup is this!”

Peng Keshi couldn’t help but laugh too.

The faces of the three Urban Collapse members couldn’t hold up. The bassist took a step forward with malicious intent, but Chen Jia gave them a sharp look, “What do you want?!” Then she scolded Asperatus, “Stop talking nonsense, show what you’ve got on stage!”

Zhong Yang raised his hand and made a zipper motion across his lips, indicating that he would shut up obediently.

Holding the script she had already pinched, Chen Jia pointed at the three members of Asperatus. “Perform well later. If you don’t perform well, I’ll eat you!”

“Yes, sir!” Zhong Yang immediately stood straight and saluted her lazily. “I promise to perform well!”

The two bands from the previous PK round exited the stage. The host used a suspenseful tone to introduce the last two bands, “Oh my, these last two bands are remarkable. They should have met at the peak, but they unexpectedly met halfway. Come on, let’s shout out the names of these two bands together—”

The audience below cooperated and shouted out, shouting “Asperatus” and “Urban Collapse” with equal enthusiasm, and it was hard to tell which side had more people.

As before, the two bands each sent out a representative to play rock-paper-scissors to determine the order of their performances. Urban Collapse sent out the bassist, while Asperatus sent out Zhong Yang, as usual.

The host intentionally livened up the atmosphere, “So, Jiang Ji won’t be coming this time either?”

“Alas, our band’s cool guy and cool girl, can’t be bothered with this ah” Zhong Yang exaggeratedly sighed, “Looks like it’s up to me again.”

Laughter erupted from the audience. With his cute appearance, Zhong Yang was quite likable when he wasn’t rambling nonsense.

But Zhong Yang’s luck was good this time. He won with “scissors” against the opponent’s “rock”, and he was so happy that he smiled broadly, making a “yeah” gesture near his ear.

“Now that Asperatus won the coin toss,” the host asked, “do you choose to perform first or second?”

Zhong Yang turned to look at the waiting area. Jiang Ji, as usual, stood in the dimly lit area, speaking calmly, “Let’s go second.”

Qin Qingzhuo looked at him, also with injuries on his face. Jiang Ji didn’t deliberately cover them up, instead resembling the injured young male lead in a movie, brimming with a sense of story.

“Alright,” the host raised his voice amidst screams, “let’s temporarily hand over the stage to Urban Collapse—”

On stage, the prelude of Urban Collapse began, with crisp and dense drum beats accompanied by psychedelic electronic music, immersing people in a slightly intoxicated atmosphere of revelry.

Admittedly, the prelude was quite stunning. Qin Qingzhuo watched the members of Urban Collapse on stage. Under the enhancement of the music, the makeup on their faces didn’t seem so ridiculous anymore.

From a technical standpoint, Urban Collapse was the strongest among all the bands, and this song showcased their strengths to the fullest. The instruments were well-coordinated, showing a lot of depth and incorporating many techniques.

Although focusing too much on technique might give off a sense of showing off, Qin Qingzhuo had to admit that it was indeed a good performance.

Compared to the several rehearsals of Asperatus he had heard downstairs before, winning would be a matter of course. Qin Qingzhuo sighed inwardly once again.

After the finale, the whole audience erupted into cheers and applause. The cameraman timely turned the lens towards Asperatus standing on the side of the stage, and Qin Qingzhuo looked over as well.

Zhong Yang pursed his lips, wearing a disdainful expression on his face, while Jiang Ji and Peng Keshi had no expression, showing no thoughts about Urban Collapse’s performance.

Hopefully, Jiang Ji’s inner thoughts were as indifferent to winning or losing as they appeared. Qin Qingzhuo thought to himself.

After Urban Collapse finished their performance, the two bands swapped positions, and the three members of Asperatus walked to the center of the stage.

The cheers faded, the lights dimmed, and the audience quieted down.

Jiang Ji stood in front of the microphone with his guitar, adjusting the microphone’s height with one hand, then putting the guitar on his back and tuning it, his head bowed.

With the preparations complete, he lifted his head and glanced at Qin Qingzhuo.

With his dark and heavy eyes, carrying a hint of rebellion, it seemed like he wanted to confirm something when he looked over.

Qin Qingzhuo nodded gently as he looked back at him.

Jiang Ji felt a certain fluctuating emotion in his chest suddenly settle down, as if finding a place to rest.

In that instant, he made a decision.

He turned to look at Zhong Yang and Peng Keshi, silently exchanging glances with them. Zhong Yang made an “OK” gesture towards him.

Then, Jiang Ji turned his head, tilting it slightly upward as he took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

He lowered his gaze and gently strummed the guitar.

The sound of the guitar strings resonated, causing Qin Qingzhuo to startle.

No one reacted faster than him—Asperatus changed the song.

—Without any warning, they switched to “Endless Night”.